In certain equipment it is necessary to feed bundles of wires to different operating components. Often there will be openings within the structure of this equipment through which the wire bundles are fed and supported. However, due to movement and vibration within the equipment, it is necessary to support the wire bundles. This is necessary to prevent fraying of the wire insulation and exposure of the wire which could result if the bundles were allowed to chafe against the equipment's structure.
In commercial aircraft, for example, wire bundles are fed outboard from the fuselage through the wing. These wire bundles carry signals between various control devices in the fuselage and wing mounted systems such as engines, flaps and slats. However to reach these operating systems, the bundles must be fed through openings in wing ribs, support tracks and the like. Furthermore, to prevent the wire bundles from chafing due to vibration and movement of the wing, the wire bundles have traditionally been supported by "P" clamps which in turn are fastened to the aircraft structure.
Using this conventional method, each wire bundle must be supported by a separate P clamp so as to provide spacing between the wire bundles as well as between the wire bundles and the airplane structure. Sometimes there are as many as six wire bundles which must be fed through a single opening and which must be supported by six separate P clamps. Due to the large number of P clamps required, it is sometimes necessary that the hole have an oblong configuration in order to accomodate all of the wire bundles. This reduces the overall strength of the structure. Furthermore it is time consuming to attach individual P clamps around each wire bundle and to fasten each of the P clamps to the aircraft structure.
This conventional method is particularly burdensome when it becomes necessary to support the wire bundles within openings in the airplane slat support tracks. Typically, these tracks are very close together, sometimes only about two inches apart.
A number of conventional support devices have been disclosed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 730,251 by Gibbs there is disclosed a sheath having "+" shaped elements therein for supporting electrical wire. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 919,913 by Miller discloses a pipe connector including a threaded divided gland which is inserted inside a threaded recess of a connecting part and which grasps a portion of the pipe.